Learn the tale of brother and sister whose shared movie experience
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| Brother's Birthday |
| "Kroth binew!" I yell into the phone. |
| "Kroth binew to you," my brother says. |
| This phrase has replaced "Wa-sa-bi" (pronounced as "wazzup" with an extra syllable) as our little brother–sister catch phrase. We got it from a rather bad indie film we saw at a film festival in LA a few months ago. In the movie, the phrase is a play on the main character's name, K. Roth Binew. You see, K. Roth is convinced that he will die soon, and he becomes depressed and ends up drinking in a bar. The man sitting next to him at the bar tells him to run his name together and proclaim that it is a rare, and very contagious disease that he has. Unbelievably, this works, and a woman runs screaming from the bar. It is, I admit, a funny moment. |
| To my brother and me, it is a greeting, a text message that says, "I'm thinking about you and the great time we had that weekend," a tie between the two of us that we can pin down. It is a concrete moment in time that binds my brother to me and me to him. |
| These moments are increasingly rare, as my brother lives in California, and I live in North Carolina. But I will take what I can get. |
| "Happy birthday," I say. |
| "Thanks," he says. |
| We talk for a while, and then he has to get back to his job. I know that it will be a while before we talk again, but I don't mind. It is these small moments that matter. |
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